The Soldier's Unexpected Family

by Tanya Agler

  He sounded like Natalie. Was there something in the water here in Hollydale? Didn’t they know how precious life was? How it could be snuffed out in a second? First his mother and then the rest of his family, including Shelby, all gone too soon. There was a limited amount of time in a day with so much on the agenda.

  Aidan blinked. He’d been coming at everything from the opposite point of view. Had he been filling every minute of every day with plans and schedules to avoid coming to terms with life?

  Natalie had told him she tried to live each moment to its fullest, but had gone overboard to make everything fun for everyone else. Was he also avoiding real emotion in an attempt to shelter himself? Was he distancing himself from caring?

  As his gaze fell upon a deep purple rhododendron bush, its small blooms so deep a purple as to almost appear black, he knew he’d done just that.

  But that didn’t excuse people from acting badly. Belinda and Hyacinth had created a real mess, and he refused to have this carry over to the Fourth’s festivities.

  “How do I avoid any further trouble?”

  “You want to know something else about my wife, Aidan?”

  Not particularly. He wanted a solution about Hyacinth and Belinda, but the mayor seemed to like talking in circles. He’d just have to wait until the mayor made his point. Same as almost everyone else around here, as opposed to the straightforward style he loved about the military. Settling in, he leaned back against the hard rail. “Sure.”

  The mayor laughed. “Thanks for humoring me.” He leaned forward, his gaze trained on a white bush on the other side of the trail. “She’s a master of compromise. She took all the suggestions and blended them together, designing the trail so the scent would linger while not being too strong, so there’d be enough visual stimulation without being overwhelming.” He tapped his fingers together and turned toward Aidan. “I don’t want you saying no right off, but will you consider something for me? As a personal favor.”

  “Depends on the favor.”

  “Apply for the city manager position.”

  No. Nyet. Nada. Nein. Not about to do that in a million years. He gave himself points for admirable restraint for not blurting out his answer. How soon did the mayor consider “right off” anyway?

  “Thanks.” The “but” was in his voice as Aidan wasn’t that good of a liar.

  The mayor rose and gestured for Aidan to follow. They walked along companionably. “You’re at the top of my list of candidates to replace Bob.”

  “How many others are on the list?”

  “You get straight to the point. I like that. That’s why this town needs you. We’re growing, and we need strong leadership and wise planning.”

  “I’m honored.” To his surprise, he was, but that wasn’t enough to make a difference. “However, I have another position lined up when my discharge goes through next year.” One that would make a difference in so many ways.

  “I’m not from these parts. Grew up in Nashville. It took some of the old-timers quite some time to get used to me. It helped I married Nancy, who’s a cousin of Frederick Whitney. Timber built this town, and the Whitney family made their money in that industry and then converted to furniture. Frederick and Agnes are now turning toward more philanthropic pursuits, especially given that their daughter, Charlotte, has no interest in settling in this area.”

  Not once had Aidan thought the mayor’s accent was different from the one in these parts, and he’d had quite a bit of training in that respect. “Couldn’t tell you hailed somewhere other than North Carolina.” Aidan took a second glance at the turkeybeard on the trail. Darned if it wasn’t growing on him.

  “Nancy wasn’t interested in me at first. She calls me an acquired taste. However, there was something about Hollydale that appealed to me. Besides her, that is. Long story short. I had connections and could have been on the fast track to the mayor’s seat in Nashville that would have been a springboard to other political aspirations. Never regretted being a small-town mayor, though. Pay’s not the best. Hours are a sight better here, though. People give Nancy and me some of their best casseroles, too.” Mayor Wes stopped walking, and Aidan did likewise. His face grew somber. “I remember one tornado warning when I flagged down a woman who had made a U-turn at the high school, which was set up as a shelter. She’d brought her dog with her, and she was going to go home when she realized they wouldn’t let him in. I convinced her to stay and settled her and the dog away from anyone who might have allergies. When she left the school, I held her hand when she found her home a pile of rubble. I know every resident by name, and I listen to their stories. Someday, I want to hear about that scar when you’re ready to tell me. As far as Belinda and Hyacinth are concerned, you’ll figure it out.”

  Humbled, Aidan walked back to the picnic pavilion without saying another word, the mayor joining him.

  * * *

  NATALIE YAWNED AND STRETCHED, her muscles rebelling. She lifted the star fashioned out of bent wire hangers and outlined with red garland. Stripes of blue pipe cleaners divided the middle. She placed it carefully on the pole.

  She gasped and hopped off the platform. Dare she even think it? With a little over thirty-six hours to spare, the float was finished.

  “Aunt Natalie!” Danny skipped along the path, dripping wet from his time at the splash area with Aidan, who trailed behind the boy.

  She ran forward and hugged Danny. “It’s done! Come and see.”

  “Now you’re all wet.” Aidan handed her Danny’s dry towel. “You need this, seeing how he didn’t wait to use it.”

  “Thanks.” She accepted his offering and smiled.

  Together, the three of them stood in front of the float, and Danny clapped. “It’s happy, just like you, Aunt Natalie.”

  That might be one of the best compliments she’d ever received. “What about you, Aidan? What do you think?”

  She tried to see it through his eyes. Sure, it was a little gaudy and over-the-top, but a country didn’t celebrate its birthday every day. The silence stretched out until it was almost overwhelming.

  “You brought everyone together, and it works.” Admiration laced his voice, and that approbation also meant the world to her.

  She approved, too. She was proud of this, and hoped the volunteers were, too. It might only be around for one day, but what a day.

  To celebrate the moment, Natalie motioned for Danny and Aidan to stand together in front of the float. “I’ll take a picture of the two of you.” The photo could act as a bookend for the one she already had on her mantel of Shelby and Danny.

  She snapped the handsome pair and viewed the result on her phone. The handsome visage of Aidan’s strong features, his stoicism on full display, almost leaped off the screen. Even now Danny showed signs of being a heartbreaker, so like his uncle. Their family resemblance revealed much more on her screen than in the flesh.

  A sobering thought, indeed.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  AFTER YESTERDAY’S COOL, refreshing rain, Aidan didn’t quite know what to expect on this Fourth of July. His morning jog had promised the beginnings of a sunny day, and now walking along the group of floats and past the high school band congregating in the parking lot of Hollydale High, the starting point of the parade, he checked the skies. That promise had come to full fruition. Blue and clear. The same as Natalie’s eyes.

  He reached Natalie’s float, and he couldn’t help his broad smile. There, atop the float, stood Natalie in a red dress with white polka dots. Somehow, those blue ankle boots should clash but, on her, they didn’t. Instead, everything eccentric and quirky about her fit together, and he liked what he saw more and more every day. Returning to Fort Lewis a few weeks from now would be a sight harder. Either he’d break Natalie’s heart by taking Danny with him or he’d break his own if he left Danny with Natalie.

  Before he was able to herald Danny to j
oin him in the lead grand marshal convertible, Aidan realized his cell phone was ringing. Speaking of the military, it was Lieutenant Colonel Thrasher, his superior officer. Aidan ducked behind a utility pole and answered the call. Minutes later, he pocketed his phone, his new orders clear. He and Danny were expected to return on Wednesday, two weeks early. A top-level security meeting requiring his translation skills was scheduled for Friday at the base. Lieutenant Colonel Thrasher had ordered him back. Aidan had no choice. That was all there was to it.

  There’d be no day trip tomorrow as he and Natalie would have to make a decision.

  Around him, people waved flags, popped in and out of shops, carried coolers and camp chairs, staking out their spots on the parade route. They blurred. How was he going to break the news to Natalie?

  He caught sight of her emptying bags of candy into a pillowcase and knew he couldn’t ruin her day. She’d put so much work into this, and Danny deserved a holiday to remember. He’d tell her tomorrow morning.

  They’d work out what was best for Danny, maybe a transition where she accompanied him to Fort Lewis before school started, so Natalie could see Danny was in good hands.

  Guilt ripped through him. He should just tell her now. That way, they’d both have time today to think about Danny’s best interests.

  Emerging from his spot, he swallowed that lump in his throat. Natalie waved at him, her smile lighting up his day more than any firework finale.

  “Aidan!” She jumped off the float. “You look like you’ve lost your best friend.”

  In a way, he had. He’d be losing this town sooner than anticipated, and that loss was almost as devastating as not spending the next two weeks with her. He’d lost his chance at a future with Natalie. However, he was a soldier. He’d made sacrifices before. He’d make sacrifices again.

  He tightened his facial features into a faux smile. “That wasn’t the right look for the grand marshal?”

  Natalie’s eyes sparkled even brighter. “Only if you want to scare everyone. This is the Fourth of July, not Halloween.”

  “Aunt Natalie, help me down.” Danny’s voice tugged at Aidan’s heart as Natalie lowered him to the gray asphalt.

  “We have an important job, Danny. We have to give your uncle real smiling lessons so he makes a positive impression on Hollydale as the grand marshal. Come on, show him a Murphy smile.”

  Danny rolled his eyes in the age-old expression of humoring an adult. “Okay. Funny faces are always good.” Then he lifted one side of his face and stuck out his tongue. “Natalie’s dad likes it when I make good funny faces.”

  “That would leave an impression alright.” Aidan nodded and folded his arms, his blue Oxford shirt stiff and starched. He’d decided against his full-dress uniform. “Not quite the one I’m going for, though.”

  “I’m the queen of funny faces.” Natalie wiggled her fingers above her ears, twisted her tongue and scrunched her face.

  He snapped a picture, and she reached for his phone. “No fair! Delete that!”

  “It’s totally fair, Harrison. Come on, Danny. We have a parade to lead.”

  Natalie’s protests followed him. He merely grasped Danny’s hand and led him to the front of the procession, where Georgie stood beside the beauty of a restored Ford Thunderbird he’d seen once before at the Harrison family barbecue.

  Danny squeezed his hand. “I wish my mommy could see this, but I’m glad you’re here, Uncle Aidan.” He gazed at him with big eyes. “Is it wrong to be happy without her?”

  Aidan’s heart clenched at the concern and depth pouring forth from such a young boy, a mirror image of him as a child, only wiser and more accepting. This time he accepted the lump and merely shook his head, adding a mental snapshot of Danny to the actual one he’d taken on his phone of him and Natalie.

  * * *

  “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, thank you for coming to the twenty-seventh annual Hollydale pie contest.” The mayor’s announcement brought cheers from the crowd.

  Aidan met Natalie’s gaze, her happy smile buoying him for what was coming. It wasn’t going to be popular, but it was the best solution he had come up with and the mayor had agreed on. He braced himself for the crowd’s reaction.

  The mayor introduced Aidan, and a hushed silence fell over the crowd as he stepped onto the dais and the podium.

  “First, thanks for the privilege of being your grand marshal this morning. It was an honor I’ll never forget.” He came close to letting his secret about his new departure date slip from his mouth. He couldn’t tell Natalie this way, though.

  “Get on with the pie judging. Who’s it gonna be, Hyacinth or Belinda?” someone yelled from the crowd.

  Seven pies sat on the long table, only identifiable through a number, with slivers of slices already precut. The rest of the slices would be sold later with the proceeds going toward park improvements. Aidan had loaded up on protein this morning to combat the sugar rush the mayor warned him about. Between the slices sat a small tumbler of coffee and a few saltines so he could judge each pie on its own merits. One by one, he sampled pie, the stares of the crowd on him the entire time. Somehow, he kept it together when he bit into an egg shell in one piece and then discovered something that tasted like vinegar in another.

  The bite of pie with colorful cereal circles was more sugar than he normally ate all month, and he deserved all the credit for widening his fake smile and keeping it intact.

  Natalie mouthed something and pointed to her left cheek. He squinted until her message of no dimple came through loud and clear.

  No one had ever known him this well.

  He shook it off as he arrived at the last three slices. Plump cherries winked out of lattice work that looked like it came from a 3D printer. The smooth velvety texture slid down his throat. Without thinking, he reached for another bite, flavor filling his mouth with delight. This was heaven on a plate. After the third bite, he stopped with two slices awaiting him.

  While he sipped the coffee, his gaze fell on Belinda, her plain blue shirtwaist dress offset with a red-and-white scarf tied around her neck, preening like the cat who came upon an unattended koi pond. A few yards away, Hyacinth stood, her gauzy red scarf a headband in her hair with her light blue tank top flowing into a white vintage flared skirt with yellow lemons, concern overriding her usual laid-back features.

  The penultimate slice was lemon meringue and, from all accounts, this must be Hyacinth’s contribution. He slid his fork and expected another bite of hometown goodness; instead, he tried to keep his composure. Someone forgot to add sugar. This was lip puckering failure at best, plain awful at worst.

  The pressure must have gotten to Hyacinth. That was the only explanation he came up with that made any sense.

  It also made his decision easier.

  At last, he came to the final slice, his childhood favorite, strawberry chiffon pie. He hadn’t had a slice of this in years. To be exact, since a few days before his mother passed away unexpectedly. He glanced at Natalie, wondering... As expected, she seemed able to read his mind, and she shook her head. I didn’t enter the contest. She formed the words so clearly he had no trouble at all reading her lips this time.

  Hints of fresh strawberries peeked out of the sides with one plump strawberry half atop the sliver. His first taste brought back the last pie his mother had ever baked for him, and he hurried for another bite before letting out a soft sigh. Then he took one final bite. Perfection in a flaky graham cracker crust.

  Aidan walked along the row of pies and handed the results to Mayor Wes behind the curtain. Then he approached the podium with the mayor, who adjusted the mic.

  “The moment you’ve all been waiting for.”

  Before the mayor announced anything, it was as if the crowd separated in half, with half standing behind Belinda and the other half behind Hyacinth. Natalie and Danny stood in the middle, not taking either side
. She smiled at Aidan, a slow, steady current of calm in a sea of turbulence.

  The mayor joked for a couple more minutes, prolonging the suspense before holding up two envelopes. “The blue ribbon for best fruit pie goes to number five, cherry lattice pie.” Grumbles and a few boos could be heard as people patted Belinda’s back. The mayor opened up the envelope with a big five printed on it. “Belinda Chastain, come get your blue ribbon.”

  She jogged up the steps and clutched the blue ribbon to her heart. “Number fourteen is as sweet as number one. Thank you. Enjoy the fireworks, and I’ll see you next year.” Victory tinged her words, and the crowd started dispersing with several patting Hyacinth on the back and murmuring words of consolation while shooting Aidan daggers.

  The mayor leaned over. “Wait a minute. I’m not finished. That was the award for best fruit pie. There’s another award.”

  Gasps filled the crowd with everyone filing back into the area. Belinda shook her head. “For twenty-seven years there has only been one blue ribbon. There can’t be another one.”

  The mayor arched his eyebrow. “Are you arguing with me and the grand marshal of our fair parade?”

  Belinda gripped her blue ribbon, her lips turning almost as blue as the ribbon. “I won this fair and square.” She lifted her chin. “Besides, I saw him taste that lemon meringue pie. Hyacinth won’t win this year.”

  The last part was for his and the mayor’s ears only. She left the stage to cheers and whistles from her friends, and she raised the blue ribbon in victory.

  “This year there will also be a blue ribbon for best soft pie.” The mayor looked at the index card and then at Aidan. “There’s been some mistake.”

  He approached Aidan and whispered in his ear. “Hyacinth always makes lemon meringue pie. This says the strawberry chiffon is the winner.”